Ambient air pollution in gastrointestinal endoscopy unit; rationale and design of a prospective study

Abstract

Background: A gastrointestinal endoscopy unit is frequently exposed to gastrointestinal gas expelled from patients and electrocoagulated tissue through carbonation for the treatment of gastrointestinal neoplasms or hemostasis of gastrointestinal bleeding. This can be potentially harmful to the health of not only the healthcare personnel but also patients who undergo endoscopic examinations. However, there has been scarce data on air quality in the endoscopy unit. This study aimed to measure the air quality in the gastrointestinal endoscopy unit. Methods: This is a prospective study using conventional portable passive air quality monitoring sensors in the gastrointestinal endoscopy unit. We will check the 6 main indoor air quality indices, as well as the atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity in the endoscopy unit of a single hospital in Korea. These indices are as follows: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), total volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter that has a diameter of <2.5 μm, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) , carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone. The indices will be checked in the endoscopy unit, including the procedural area, recovery area, and area for disinfection and cleansing of equipment, at 1-minute intervals for at least 1 week, and the type and number of endoscopic procedures will also be recorded. The primary outcome of this study is to determine whether the air quality indices exceed safety thresholds and whether there is any association between ambient air pollution and the type and number of endoscopic procedures. Conclusion: The results of this study will provide evidence for health-related protective strategies for medical practitioners and patients in the endoscopy unit.

Indoor CO2 monitoring in a surgical intensive care unit under visitation restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Regardless of visitation policies, the daily PM2.5 level was low at night and higher during the daytime, especially at the time of clinical handover and visitation. The formaldehyde concentrations (Supplementary Figure S1) were significantly lower during restricted visitation (phase 1 and phase 3 combined; median [IQR]: 34 [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] μg/ m 3 ) than during standard visitation (phase 2; 42 μg/m 3 ; p < 0.001). During restricted and standard visitation, the daily formaldehyde level was relatively low at night and elevated during the daytime as the occupant number increased, especially during clinical handover and visitation.…”

Current and Future Sustainability Traits of Digestive Endoscopy

“…[7,8,44,45], or working in an environment that is constantly affected by air pollutants produced by different activities puts the workers or the people living in those buildings at high risk for pulmonary, cardiovascular, and other diseases. These air pollutants are mostly carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter that has a diameter of <2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone [46].…”

Development of a real-time monitoring and detection indoor air quality system for intensive care unit and emergency department

“…The threshold of pollutants' values collected in the present study (according to Table 1) should be considered to determine whether the air quality indices exceed safety thresholds or not [24]. Therefore, this section is integrated with threshold values to ensure that the IAQ is within the acceptable range or not [3].…”

“…Table 2 shows the pollutants threshold for IAQ established and extracted from the literature which depended on international standards and extracted from WHO organization guidelines in healthcare facilities [22,24]. As shown in Table 2, each pollutant has its threshold range among three levels: "Acceptable" for the ideal value; "Moderate" for the medium danger; and "Poor" for the risky value of pollutants.…”

“…Moreover, air pollution is one of the most common causes of asthma cases, affecting 91% of the world's population according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) [14]. A low IAQ can lead to ailments, such as headache, exhaustion, eye and skin irritation or long-term health effects [1]; in particular, it is a leading risk factor for premature death [24]. Hospitals rely extensively on computer technology and IoT to examine patients, cure disease, advance the science of medicine, telemedicine, and conduct the remote services of health care [25][26][27][28][29].…”